Airship-mooring mast with water tank and fire protection for airship sheds



April 21, 1925.

s. TRUSCOTT AIRSHIP MOORING MAST WITH WATER TANK AND gnuen o1',

attorney 3 shets-sheet 1 Filed Nov. 19, 1925 FIRE PROTECTION FOR AIRSHIP SHEDS April 21, 1925.

S. TRUSCOTT AIRSHIP MOORING MAST WITH WATER TANK AND FIRE PROTECTION FOR AIRSHIP SHEDS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 19, 1925 Aprd 21, 1925. 1,534,619

S. TRUSCOTT AIRSHIP MOORING MAST WITH WATER TANK AND FIRE PROTECTION FOR AIRSHIP SHEDS Filed Nov. 19, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 PatentedpApr. 21, 192.5. l

UNITED STAT .PATENT oF FICE STARR TRUSCOTT, 0F WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

msnm-Moonrise. MAST WITH wa'rnaviilvn AND man PROTECTION Foa AinsHIP sanos.

Application ledg-,evember 19, 1923. Serial No. 675,769.

To all whom 'it may concern.' Be it known that I, STARR citizen. of the United States, residing at Washington, District of Columbia, have invented new and useful Improvements inf A ii'ship-Mooring Masts with Water Tanks and Fire Protection for Airship Sheds, of which the following is a. specification. i

This invention relates to apparatus for mooring, housing and protecting aircraft and more particularly airships or lighter than aircraft.

As is well known to those familiar wit the art, airships are of great length and bulk and it is customary to house them in sheds. For temporary mooring, especially where high windsv are to be expected airships are secured to mooring masts which permit the ship to swing with the wind but hold it at a safe elevation above the ground.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide a mooring mast of substantial construction and adapted to resist the pulling effect exerted thereon b-y an airsliip by installing in said mooring mast or tower a tank adapted to. be filled with water, which will greatly aid the stability of the mast and provide a supply of water at high pressure which may be used primarily for the fire protection of the sheds in which the airship or ships are housed.

Gther lobjects will be in part obvious and in part herein-after pointed out in co-nnection with the accompanying sheets of drawings wherein are illustrated such parts of the mechanism as may be necessary for one skilled in the art to thoroughly understand the same.

Figure l is an elevational, semi-diagrammatic View showing the complete system and apparatus with a portion of an airship indicated.

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the shed, and,

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic sectional plan view of the shed, the roof being removed therefrom.

The airsliip mooring mast 5, as ordinarily constructed is a steel tower which is set up at any convenient part of the landing field for the purpose of supplying an elevated oint to which the bow 6 of an airship may Ee attached and from which the ship may ride for periods of varying length. It is arranged to supply fuel, water ballast and gas through appropriate piping 7 It also may provide means for the transfer of passengers and cargo to and from the ship by means of an. elevator 8 for facilitating access to thegtop mast. The mast is also fitted with vhaiilii'ig.Winches and` mooring gear 10 arranged? as may be desired according to the systemof mooringused.

The mooring mast 5 is provided near its upper portion with a water tank 11 and has for one purpose, asin the case of any indus- -trial or municipal installation the supplying of a large quantity ofwater under a consi erablehead which shall be immediately availabledin case of lire or other emergency. By havinga largetank the immediate supply of an adequate quantity ofswater for use in a.` sprinkler system v12 is. assured. '.lhe water is, of course, replenished' from time to time by means of pumps which may be automatically or manually controlled.

.As .is well known sprinkler systems as ordinarily installed in commercial buildings are intended to provide a supply of water to quench lire almostv immediately iipon its origin. Most systems operate 4through the melting of a fusible link which is so locatedl as to be near the probable source of fire and also to control the valve through which the water escapes. In some cases there'is no water in the pipes and the fusible link simply releases a gas or air under pressure which in turn permits the water to flow in and issue from the openings. This latter type is used where there is danger of freezing. In other types the fusible linkA may control valves which throw the main water supply into connection with the sprinkler system. Or it may control motors which will in turn connect'various pipes wit-h the water supply. In all cases the basic principle is the same i. e., to cause the heat from the fire to release some mechanism which will direct a supply of water to the point where the fire is beginning.

Another type of lire prevention apparatus which has a somewhat similar character is the alarm and operating device based on the time rate of rise of temperature. This consists primarily of a chamber which communicates with the outside air through a sinall orifice. If the surrounding temperature rises atmore than what is considered at safe rate lthe air inside the chamber expands and escapes from the orifice so'slowly that the pressure built up causes either an electrical connection or some other mechanism to a nnounce the fact that the temperature is rising at an unsafe rate. This device may also be used to open valves, operate sprmkler systems, etc.

In buildings where highly inflammable commodities are to be manufactured or stored it is custon'iary to subdivide the space as completely as possible. For some processes this is not possible and in case of a fire, a complete loss might occur unless some means could be found of separating the section in which a fire occurred from the other, as by means of water curtains which consist of a series of nozzles running across the entire space and so arranged as to produce a practically continuous sheet of Water When all of the nozzles are open. These Water curtains, which really consist of a larve number of small streams which rapidly break up into droplets are most effective in preventing the passage of flame.

It is proposed to accomplish a combination of the three functions of the mooring mast, watertank and fire protection through the combination of the mooring mast with the Water tank and the fitting of sprinklers or similar fittings in the airship shed. As is herein shown, a pipe 13 leads from the water tank 11 to the ground mains 14 Which are connected with the. sprinkler system 12 as shown in Figure 1 and which system as shown in Figure 3 is divided into longitudinal and transverse sections thus covering the entire upper surface of the shed.

In the case of a fire in a hydrogen filled airship, it is almost impossible to save the ship from destruction due to the inflammability of the hydrogen gas. It is also very difficult to preserve the shed as because of the intense heat the roof trusses may become over-heated and either distort or collapse. The easiest way to prevent this is to keep the trusses cool by spraying them with Water While the fire is in progress. The temperature of the flame is very great but it has little radiant heat and except in the immediate neighborhood there is no great danger of over-heating. Consequently, if the temperature can be kept down immediately about the flame, the shed can probably be preserved. It is, therefore, proposed to fit the interior of the shed with the sprinkler i system 12 as indicated `in Figure 3. In order to delay the spread of the llame along the shed, additional heads are to be fitted to form Water curtains both longitudinally and transversely arranged, as seems most desirable under the circumstances. As illustrated in Figure 2 the shed is normally adapted to berth two shipsl 'and the main curtain runs longitudinally so as to divide the shed into halves and prevent the spread 0f the fire from one ship to another.

It is preferred to have the operation of these devices take place automatically and directly through the melting of the fusible links in the heads of the nozzles although other methods of operation may be used if desired. Likewise, the mooring mast may be used Without a shed if necessary When it is only desired to use the same as a port of call. In such case the Water supply could be used for any desired purpose as affording a supply of Water to the ycommunity immediately surrounding the station.

It will thus be seen that the present invention contemplates a simple and practical apparatus adapted to .perform various func-v tions and advantages herein set forth in a reliable and eiicient manner.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of this invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications Without omitting certain features, that, from the standpoint of the prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention, and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended Within the meaning and range of equivalency of the folle-Wing claims.

1. In a. system of thel character described, in combination, a mooring mast for airships provided with mooring gearing and a Water tank associated with the upper part of said mast adapted to increase the stability thereof and provide a supply of Water to the surrounding stations.

2. In a system of the character described, in combination, a mooring mast, an aircraft shed, a water tank associated With the mooring mast for increasing the stability thereof alnddprovding fire protecting means for said s ie 3. In a system of the character described, in combination, a mooring mast, a Water tank in the upper part thereof, mooring means for an airship associated with said tower, a shed for the airship, a sprinkler system installed in said shed and connected With said tank.

4. In a system of the character described, in combination, a mooring mast, a Water tank in the upper part thereof, mooring means for an airship associated with said tower, a shed for the airship, a sprinkler system installed in said shed, connected With said tank and automatic sprinkler nozzles associated with the sprinkler system adapted to open in case of fire.

5. In a system of the character described, in combination, a mooring mast, a landing station at the upper part thereof, mooring gear mounted upon said stage7 an elevator for reaching said stage, piping for supplying oil or fuel to said aircraft, a Water tank associated With the tower adapted to increase its stability and means for permit ting the water to be drawn from said tank.

6. In a system of the character described, in combina-tion, a mooring mast, a landing station at the upper part thereof, mooring gear mounted upon said stage, an elevator for reaching said stage, piping for supplying oil or Jfuel to said aircraft, a Water tank associated with the tower adapted to increase its stability, means for permitting the Water to be drawn from said tank and a shed adjacent said mooring mast, a sprinkler system associated With said shed and means forconnecting said sprinkler system With the pipe leading from said tank.

7. In a sytem of the character described, in combination a mooring mast a landing station at the upper part thereof mooring gear mounted upon said stage, an elevator for reaching said stage piping for supplying oil or fue-l to said aircraft, a Water tank associated with the tower adapted to increase its stability means for permitting the Water to be drawn from said tank, a shed adjacent said mooring mast, a sprinkler system associated with said shed, means for connecting said sprinkler system with the pipe leading from said tank, said sprinkler system provided With means whereby Water curtains are formed both transversely and longitudinally of the shed.

Signed at Vilashingtonv, District of Columbia, this 11th day of October, 1923.

STARR TRUSCOTT. 

